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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1.

L.. G. OROWELL.

SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS.

No. 269,184. Patented Dec. '19, 18821.

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L. 0. GROWELL.

SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS.

(No Model.)

No. 269,184. Patented Dec. 19, L882.

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(No Model.) 4 SheetsSh eet 3. L. O. GROWELL.

SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUSf No. 269,184. Patented De0.19,1882.

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No. 269,184. 7Patented De0.19,1882.

Irwe 117E073 ltd/Ear G OrowclQ UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

LUTHER o. CROWELL, o BRooKLYN, 'AssIeNoE TO n. HOE & 00., or NEW YORK,N. Y.

SHEET-DELIVERY APPARATUS.

SPEOIFICATIONforming part of Letters Patent No. 269,184, dated December19, 1882.

Application filed June 9, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUTHER U. GROWELL, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Brooklyn, county of Kings, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful I inprovements inSheet-Delivery Apparatus, fully described and represented in thefollowing specification and the accompanying drawings, forming a part.of the same.

It is the object of the present invention to produce a rotary deliveryapparatus capable of operating in connection with a web-perfectingprinting mechanism to deliver the printed sheets without red ucin gtheir lengths by transverse folding.

To this end theinvention consists primarily of a revolving sheet-carrierand cooperating devices for arresting the forward movement of theleading end of the sheet and for distend- 2o ing the sheet and retainingitsrear end upon the carrier until it is entirely reversed and strippedtherefrom.

The invention also comprehends various details ofconstruction andcombinations of parts,

2 all of which will be hereinafter fully explained and pointed out indetail.

In said drawingslFigure 1 is a rear end elevation of a mechanismembodying the present invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are verticalsections c ofthe same'upon thelines wwand y y, respectively. Figsd and 5 illustrateby vertical section and plan view a modified sheet distending andretaining apparatus. Figs. 6, 7, and S are sectional views, illustratingfurther modificationsin the same.

The sheet-carrier consists of a drum or cylinder, 1, secured to a shaft,2, mounted in an appropriate frame and driven from any convenient partof the printing mechanism. This drum, which is of a circumference equalto twice the Iengthof the sheet to be produced, is provided with twosets of sheet-holding pins, 3,1ocated'upon its opposite sides andmounted upon fixed shafts 5, so as to always remain 5 protruded. Just inthe rear of the pins 3, and l yin gin the same longitudinal recessesthrough which the pins protrude, are sets of stripping fingers 7, whichare mounted upon rock-shafts 9, located in the rear of the pins andhaving their free ends extended sufiiciently forward to lie between orstraddle the pins, as shown in Fig. 5. The rock-shafts 9 are providedwith rock-arms 11, the inner ends of which are controlled by a fixedcam, 13, which is so shaped as to throw the fingers outward to strip thesheets from the pins at the proper time. The shafts 9 are provided withsprings, of the ordinary construction, which draw the fingers inward andhold the arms 11 constantly against the cam. Just in advance of the pins3 the carrier is provided with cutting-grooves 14, which co-operate witha blade, 15, carried by a cylinder, 16, of one-half the size ofcylinder- 1 and driven in unison therewith, so that the blade 15 actswith both grooves 14 and severs 6 the web at each one-half revolution ofthe carrler. y

.In addition to the devices already specified, the carrier 1 is providedwith a sheet distending and retaining inechanism,consisting of the bars17, which extend lengthwise of and rest upon its surface. These bars aresupported in four-armed frames 21 22, which are mounted loosely upon theshaft 2 of the carrier, and a sleeve, 23, to be hereinafter referred to,and are so driven that the bars move positively with the carrier, but atonly one-half its speed. This movement is imparted to the frames andbars by means of gears 24 25, which are fixed to the inner sides of theframes and engage with gears 26 ,27, fast upon a shaft, 28, jour-. naledin the heads of the carrier, which shaft receives a planetary motionfrom its gear 29, through engagement with the gear 30, fixed upon thesleeve 23, which surrounds the shaft 2 and is secured to the frame ofthe machine, as shown in Fig. 1. 7

It is apparent that if the gears 24. 25 30 were of the same size and thegears 26 27 29 also equal to each other, the gears 26 27 would sim- 9oply travel around the gears 24 25, and the latter and the frames 21 22and bars 117 would remain stationary; but as the gears 26 27 are onlyone-half the size of the gears 24 25, it follows that the former inmaking a complete 5 revolution with the carrier will. only pass overone-half the periphery of the latter, and thatthe latter, together withthe frames 21 22, will during such time be carried forward with thecarrier one-half a revolution, from which it rc- I05 sults, as beforestated, that the bars 17 revolve with the carrier, but at only one-halfits speed. The bars 17 are mounted to turn freely in their bearings, soas to roll instead of slide over the surface of the carrier, and saidbearings are made movable, as shown in Fig. 2, and are provided withsprings (not shown) which operate to constantly draw the bars inward andhold them snugly to the surface of the carrier. In order to avoidcontact with the sheet-holding pins, which, as before stated, areconstantly protruded, the bars 17 are provided at proper points withcircumferential grooves 31, of sufficient depth to allow the pins topass unobstructed. Just in advance of the cutting grooves and blade thecarrier 1 and cylinder 16are provided with longitudinal depressions 3233 34, into which the bars 17 are drawn so as to permit them to pass thebiteof the carrier and cylinder.

Situated below and in close proximity to the carrier is the apparatusfor grasping and arresting the forward movement of the leading ends ofthe sheets to strip them from the car rier. This apparatus consists of askeleton cylinder, 35, provided with four sets of grippers, 36, whichare mounted in the usual manner upon rock-shafts provided with springs,by

which the grippers are closed, and with arms,

'as 37, which are acted upon by a fixed cam or I cams, 38, to open thegrippers at the proper time.

The parts beingconstructed as justset fort and provided with suitablegears so as to have their movements properly timed with relation to eachother, the operation will be as follows: The web, after being perfectedand, if desired, reducedin width by longitudinal folding or by beingsplit, and having its sections associated by web-turners or otherwise,will enter between the carrier 1 and the cylinder16, where its leadingend will be impaled by the pins 3, so as to be held upon the carrier.The gearing by which the frames 21 22 aredriven will be so timed thatwhen the leading end of the web is taken by the pins one of the bars 17will havejust passed the bite of the carrier and cylinder 16, and, asthe carrier travels at twice the speed of the bars 17, theleadingend ofthe web will at once be carried forward past the bar, the springcontrolled bearings and grooves 31 of the bar permitting it to rise outof the depression in the carrier and the pins to pass forwardunobstructed. When the pins carrying the leadihg end of the web arriveat a point opposite to the cylinder 35 the cam 13 will through arm 11operate the fingers 7 to strip the end of the web from the pins andthrow it outward against said cylinder, where it will be caught by oneof the sets of grippers 36, which will at that time be in position toclose upon it. As the carrier and the cylinder 35 continue theirrevolutions from this point, the leading end of the web will be strippedfrom the carrier and carried slowly downward and backward, while the bar17, moving forward at one-half the speed of the carrier, will remaincontinually in or near the bight 4.1 of the web, keeping it distendedand preventing it from falling from the carrier faster than isnecessary. When the carrier has made one-half a revolution from thepoint of starting the blade 15, co-operating with groove 14, will severthe web, and the second set of pins 3 will impale the freshly-cut endand carryit forward to be in'like manner stripped from the pins andtaken by the second set of grippers 36, which will then have arrived inposition to close upon it, the second bar 17 being in proper posit-ionto move forward in its bight to keep it properly distended, and so theoperation will be repeated at each one-half revolution of the carrier.When the carrier has made a complete revolution the rear end of thefirst sheet will have arrived at the position shown in Fig. 3, and willbe released from between the carrier and the bar 17, havin g beencompletely reversed and stripped from the carrier. At or about the sametime that its rear end is released from the carrier the grippers 36willbe operated to release its leading end, when it will fall flat upon thepiling-table or upon traveling tapes or an apron to be conveyed awayfrom the machine.

It will be observed that the cam 1.3 is so shaped that the fingers 7,after throwing the leading end of the web into the bite of the grippers36, will at oncebewithdrawn a short distance, and will then remainprojected beyond the points of the pins until the rear end of i thesheet is released, thereby preventing the possibility of the body of thesheet coming into contact with and being torn by the pin-s.

Although it is believed that the best results will be obtained by makingthe parts of subtantially the proportions shown, yet it is evident thatthey may be varied to a considerable extent. The carrier 1 may be of acircumference equal to the length of three or more sheets, and have itsauxiliaries proportion ately increased in number, and the number of setsof grippers upon the cylinder 36 may be increased or diminished. Thesevering of the web into sheets may also be accomplished by a cuttingmechanism entirely independent of the carrier.

When the cutting mechanism is independent of the carrier the sheets maybe separated by short spaces before coming to the carrier, in which casethe fingers 7 may be omitted and the grippers 36 be made to take theends of the sheets directly from the carrier.

It is also evident that this apparatus, although especially adapted tooperate upon sheets which have not been reduced in length by transversefolding, is capable of delivering sheets which have been reduced to anydesired dimensions.

In the invention as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 5 the sheet distendingand retaining bars and their frames are omitted, the sheet being keptproperly distended while being stripped from the carrier by jets of airwhich enter its advancing bight. The apparatus for this purpose consistsof a series of nozzles,39, connected IIS through a pipe, 40, with a fanor other blower, and projecting inward and forward from the side of thecarrier, so that as soon as theleading end of the web is caught by thegrippers 36, it will be subjected to an air-blast which will keep itproperly distended and advance its bight 41. The nozzles 39 will bearranged in a progressive series, as shown, so that the air-pressurewill not be diminished as the bight advances. It will usually beadvantageous to arrange a series of these nozzles upon each side of thecarrier, although but one series is shown in the present case.

In Fig. 6'the air-nozzle 39, instead of being located at the side orsides of the carrier, are placed just in the rear of the, skeletoncylinder 35, so that the jets of air enter the bight of the sheetdirectly from the rear instead of laterally. Fig. 7 shows a movingair-blast apparatus for the same purpose. In this case the bars 17,instead of rolling freely upon the surface of the carrier, are maderigid with the arms of the frames 21 22 and move out of contact with thecarrier. These bars are hollow, and are provided upon their front sideswith openings for the emission of jets of air, said air being forcedinto said hollowbars through openings in the hub 42 and arms of, theframe 22. By this arrangement the air-blast apparatus advances with thebight of the paper,

and the jets of air are delivered in close proximity thereto, so that amuch smaller amount of air suffices than when the jets are delivered ata greater distance from the paper.

By the arrangement shown in Fig. 8 the paper is held to the carrier andkept distended by suction instead of bypressnre from the exterior. Forthis purpose the shell of the carrier is provided with narrow'air-chambers {13, which open outward through a large number of smallperforations, 44, and communicateinwardthrough the'pipes 4.5 and anaxial opening in the shaft 2 with an exhaust apparatus. By the suctionthus produced the sheet will be held to the carrier until rolledbackward and stripped ofi' by the action of the grippers 36.

Vhat I claim is 1. The combination, with a rotating sheetcar'rier, ofdevicesforarresting the forward movement of and retaining the leadingend of the sheet until the same is reversed and stripped from thecarrier, all substantially as described.

2. The combination, with a rotating sheet-V carrier, of devices forarresting the forward movement of and retaining the leading end of thesheet and. for keeping the sheet distended until reversed and strippedfrom the carrier,

all substantially as described.

'3. The combination, with the rotating sheetcarrier, of theslowly-rotating cylinder 35, provided with devices for arresting theforward movement of and retaining the leading ends of succeeding sheetsuntil they are reversed and stripped from the carrier, all substantiallyas described.

4. The combination, with the rotating sheet carrier, of the rotatingcylinder 35, provided with devices for arresting the forward movement ofand retaining the leading endsof succeeding sheets, and devices forkeeping the sheets distended until reversed and stripped from thecarrier, all substantially as described.

5. The combination, with web-severingmechanism, of the rotatingsheet-carrier and the rotating cylinder 35, provided with devices forarresting the forward movement of and retaina ing the leading ends ofsucceeding sheets, all

substantially as described.

6. The combination, with the rotating sheetcarrier provided with onemember of a severing mechanism and lilting-fingers, as 7, of thecylinder 16, provided with the other member of the severing mechanismand the rotating cylinder 35, provided with devices for arrestingtheforward movement of and retaining the leadingends of succeedingsheets, all substantially as described. I v

7. The combination, with the rotating sheetcarrier', of the rotatingcylinder 35, provided with devices for arresting the forward movement ofand retaining the leading ends of suc-,

ceeding sheets, and the retainingbars 17 movnesses- LUTHER O. OROWELL.Witnesses J. O. HODEY, T. H. PALMER.

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